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PART Ⅰ．INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter 1:A Philosophy of Drafting 1

A．The Characteristics of Good Legal Writing 4

1．Accuracy 4

2．Clarity 6

3．Concision 7

4．Simplicity 9

5．Tone 9

B．Three Types of Legal Writing 10

1．Discoursive Writing 10

2．Litigation-Related Writing 11

3．Normative Writing 12

C．The Ultimate Consequence of Drafted Documents 13

D．Drafting as a Facilitator of Self-Government and Economic Enterprise 15

E．Drafting as a Form of Preventive Lawyering 16

F．Drafting as an Intellectual Exercise 17

1．Knowledge of the Law 17

2．Investigation 19

3．Conceptualization 20

4．Prescience 22

5．Organization 22

G．Drafting as a Literary Exercise 23

1．Words 23

2．Sentences 25

3．Other Word Construction Techniques 25

4．Headings 26

H．Drafting as an Ethical Exercise 26

I．The Costs of Bad Drafting 28

1．Social Costs 28

2．Client Costs 29

3．Drafter Costs 30

J．Drafting From Scratch 30

Chapter 2:Contract Drafting 33

A．The Role of the Contract Drafter 33

B．Recurring Problems in Contract Drafting 34

1．Unintended Contracts 34

2．Documents Intended to be Contracts That Fail 36

3．Contracts Containing Gaps 37

4．Ambiguous and Unnecessarily Vague Terms 38

5．Unanticipated Events 39

C．Types of Contracts 40

D．The Parts of a Contract 41

1．Caption or Heading 41

2．Introductory Paragraph 41

3．Recitals 42

4．Definitions 44

5．Substantive Provisions 45

6．Housekeeping Provisions 45

7．Signature Blocks 50

8．Date 51

9．Notarization 51

10．An Appendix 51

E．Amending Contracts 52

Chapter 3:Legislative Drafting 55

A．Who Drafts Legislation? 55

B．The Functions of the Legislative Drafter 56

C．Legislation Compared to Private-Law Documents 59

1．Nature and Size of the Audience 60

2．The Need for Precision 62

3．Policy Considerations 63

4．The Need for Factual Data 64

5．Political Considerations 64

6．Fitting the Document Into an Existing Body of Law 65

7．Legal Limits 66

8．Legislative History 69

9．Form,Style,and Usage 70

D．The Parts of a Statute 70

1．Title 71

2．Enacting Clause 71

3．Short Title Section 72

4．Findings 72

5．Definitions 73

6．Substantive Provisions 73

7．Enforcement Mechanisms 73

8．Remedies or Penalties 74

9．Housekeeping Provisions 75

E．Amending Statutes 77

1．When Are Amendments Drafted? 77

2．The Parts of an Amendment 78

3．What Amendments Do 79

4．AmendmentsChanging a Judicial Interpretation or Construction 82

Chapter 4:The Rules of Interpretation 85

A．Statutory Rules 86

B．Common Law Rules 88

1．Intent Controls 89

a．The Plain Meaning or Four Corners Rule 89

b．The Mischief Rule and Other Evidences of Intent 91

c．Effect on Drafters 92

2．The Rule of Strict Construction 94

a．Criminal Statutes 94

b．Statutes in Derogation of the Common Law 95

c．Statutes Depriving a Court of Jurisdiction 95

d．Statutes in Derogation of Sovereignty 96

3．The Rule of Liberal Construction 97

4．The Rule of Expressio Unius Est Exclusio Alterius 97

5．The Rule of Ejusdem Generis 100

6．The Rule of Noscitur a Sociis 102

7．The Rule of Reddendo Singula Singulis 103

8．The Rule of Last Modification 104

9．The Rule That Handwritten Words Prevail Over Typed or Printed Words 104

10．The Rule That Written Amounts Prevail Over Arabic Number Amounts 105

11．The Rule That Specific Statutes Prevail Over General Statutes 106

12．The Borrowed Language Rule 106

13．The Rule Favoring Agency Interpretation 107

14．The Rule That a Document Must Be Read as a Whole 108

15．The Rule of Construing Statutes in Pari Materia 108

16．Tne Rule Disfavoring Repeals By Implication 110

17．The Rule of Lex Posterior Derogat Priori 111

18．The Rule of Construing a Document Against the Drafter 111

19．The Rule of Adopting a Construction That Favors Validity 112

20．The Rule Favoring the Construction of Contracts in a Manner Consistent With Public Policy 113

Chapter 5:Drafting Ethics 114

A．Solicitation 114

1．Advertising Specialization or Concentration 115

2．Mass Mailings 115

3．Solicitation of Former Clients,Family,and Friends 115

B．Competence and Diligence 116

C．Scope of Representation 118

1．Objectives and Means 118

2．Criminal,Fraudulent,and Prohibited Transactions 120

D．Communication 123

E．Fees 124

F．Confidentiality 125

1．Ethical Requirements 125

2．Attorney-Client Privilege 127

G．Conflict of Interest 129

1．Representation Against a Current Client 129

2．Representation Against a Former Client 134

3．Imputed Disqualification 135

4．Former Government Lawyer-Drafters 137

H．Dealings With Third Parties 137

I．Litigation Ethics 139

J．Abetting the Unauthorized Practice of Law 140

K．Providing Free Drafting Services 141

Chapter 6:An Overview 143

A．Determine the Client's Objectives 143

B．Identify the Audience 145

C．Explore the Broader Legal and Factual Context of the Document 146

D．Research the Law 149

E．Determine Substance 150

F．Get the Facts 151

G．Identify the Proper Legal and Factual Concepts 152

H．Develop an Organization 153

I．Write the Document 155

1．Ambiguities 155

2．Rules of Style and Usage 156

3．Definitions 156

4．Terms Creating Legal Consequences 157

5．Format 157

J．Review the Document for Substance and Style 158

K．Post-Execution Monitoring 159

PART Ⅱ．PREPARATION AND PLANNING 160

Chapter 7:Getting Started 160

A．Determine Client Objectives 160

1．The Basic Question 160

2．How the Information Is Used 162

3．Objectives From a Variety of Perspectives 164

a．Other Parties to the Transaction 164

b．Scope of Anticipated Use 165

c．Multiple-Client Objectives 166

4．Evaluating Client Objectives 168

B．Know the Audience 169

1．Identify the Audience 170

2．Characteristics of the Audience 171

3．Accommodating the Various Audiences 173

C．Determine the Context of the Document 174

1．Legal Context 174

2．Factual Context 177

Chapter8:Drafting Within the Law 180

A．Form 180

B．Meaning 183

C．Substance 185

1．Prohibition 185

2．Requirement 186

3．Permission and Authorization 187

4．Denial of Permission or Authorization 188

5．Other Consequences 188

6．Implied Terms 188

D．Creating Legal Checklists 189

E．Drafting With Statutory Language in Mind 190

Chapter 9:Determining Substance 194

A．Types of Provisions 194

1．Required 194

2．Going to the Essence of the Transaction 195

3．Extremely Important 196

4．Optional 197

B．Substantive Term Checklists 197

1．Commercially Prepared 198

2．Drafter Prepared 198

C．The Elements of a Legal Rule 209

1．The Person 209

2．The Conduct 210

3．The Object of the Action 210

4．The Circumstances 210

5．Consequences 211

D．Substantive Gaps 213

Chapter 10:Choosing the Right Concept 218

A．Definition 218

B．The Importance of Concepts in Drafting 219

C．Types of Concepts 219

1．Legal Concepts 219

2．Factual Concepts 221

a．General Versus Specific 222

b．Vague Versus Precise 227

c．Abstract Versus Concrete 234

d．Summary 236

D．Choosing the Right Word to Reflect the Concept 237

Chapter 11:Organization 238

A．Division 238

B．Classification 243

C．Sequence 245

1．Chronological 245

2．Importance 247

3．Frequency of Occurrence 247

4．Familiar Before Unfamiliar 247

5．Rules Before Exceptions 248

6．What Before How 248

7．Substance Before Procedure 248

PART Ⅲ．DRAFTING TECHNIQUES 250

Chapter12:Avoiding Ambiguities 250

A．Definition 250

B．The Consequences of Ambiguity 250

C．Types of Ambiguity 252

1．Contextual Ambiguity 252

2．Semantic Ambiguity 256

a．Homonyms 257

b．And 259

c．Or 263

d．And/Or 265

e．Specific Dates 268

f．Time Spans 271

g．Days,Weeks,Months,and Years 273

h．Bimonthly,biannually,bienially,semimonthly,and semiannually 276

i．Hours 276

i．Relational Words 277

k．Ages 278

l．Provided that 279

m．Legalese 280

n．Shall 281

o．Among and between 282

3．Syntactic Ambiguity 283

a．Pronoun Reference 284

b．Modifiers 285

c．Participals 290

d．Chain Prepositions 290

e．Negative Pregnants 291

f．If...then Sentences 291

g．Because Clauses 295

h．Unless Clauses 295

i．Only 297

j．Truncated Passive 298

k．Which and that 299

l．Plural Nouns 301

m．Commas and Semi-Colons 303

Chapter 13:Drafting Style＆Usage 309

A．Consistency 309

1．Consistent Terminology 310

2．Consistent Grammatical Structure 311

3．Consistent Document Structure and Approach 313

B．Concision 315

1．Unnecessary Content 315

2．Repetitious Substance 316

3．Redundant Couplets,Triplets,and Other Chain Synonyms 318

4．Other Redundant Expressions 325

5．Legalese 326

6．Compound Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases 331

7．The fact that 334

8．Rhetorical and Transitional Words and Phrases 335

9．Of the Phrases 337

10．Unnecessary who's,which's,and that's 338

11．Redundant Numeration 340

12．Expletives 342

13．Nominalizations 343

14．Passive Voice 345

15．To be Verbs 346

C．Clarity and Simplicity 348

1．Short Sentences 348

2．Simple Sentence Structure 348

3．Present Tense 351

4．Simple,Ordinary Words 351

5．Terms of Art 355

6．Technical and Trade Terms 357

7．Foreign Words and Phrases 359

8．Words Ending in-ee and-or 360

9．Compound Adjectives and Noun Phrases 360

10．Unconventional Capitalization 361

11．Unusual Word Order 361

12．Positive Versus Negative Expression 362

13．Exceptions 363

14．Personal Pronouns 364

15．Split Infinitives 365

D．Gender Specific Language 366

Chapter 14:Definitions 374

A．General Principles of Usage 375

1．Terms With Established Meanings 376

2．Terms of Art and Technical Terms 376

3．Humpty-Dumpty Definitions 377

4．Circular Definitions 379

5．One-Shot Definitions 380

6．Definitional Mazes 382

B．Substantive Matters 384

C．Definitions Incorporated By Reference 387

D．Types of Definitions and Terminology 388

1．Vest Pocket Definitions 388

2．Full Definitions 390

3．Partial Definitions 393

a．Enlarging Definitions 393

b．Limiting Definitions 394

4．Combining Full and Partial Definitions 395

5．Examples 396

E．Methodology 398

1．Use More Familiar Terms 398

2．Use More Precise Terms 398

3．Identify Components 398

4．Identify Specific Referents 399

5．Indicate Relationship to a Larger Unit 399

F．Location 400

G．When to Draft Definitions 401

H．Testing Definitions 402

Chapter 15:Terms Creating Legal Consequences 405

A．The Importance of These Terms 405

B．Identifying and Creating the Appropriate Legal Consequences 406

C．The Lack of Unitformity 407

D．The Suggested Conventions 410

1．Duties 410

a．Statutory Duties 410

b．Privately Created Duties 413

2．Negation of Duties 414

3．Rights 416

4．Negation of Rights 417

5．Surrendering Rights or Causes of Action 418

6．Privileges 419

7．Negation of Privileges 421

8．Immunity 422

9．Conditions 422

a．Definition and Types 422

b．Terminology 425

10．Exceptions 426

11．Terms of Assurance or Warranty 427

12．Disclaimer of Warranties 428

13．Legal Import 429

E．Summary 429

F．When Not to Follow These Conventions 431

Chapter 16:Document Typography and Layout 433

A．Physical Appearance 433

1．White Space 434

2．Type Size and Font 434

3．All Capitals and Underlining 436

4．Line Length 437

5．Justification 440

6．Line Spacing 440

7．Blank Spaces 441

B．Text 441

1．Table of Contents 442

2．Numbered Pages 442

3．Numbered or Lettered Paragraph Headings 443

4．Lists 445

5．Enumerations 446

6．Tabbing 450

7．Charts and Graphs 451

8．Computations 453

Chapter 17:Reviewing and Revising Drafted Documents 455

A．Prepare a Flowchart 456

B．Review for Substance 465

1．Review By the Drafter 465

2．Review By Someone Else 466

3．Preparing a Summary 467

4．Review By the Client 468

C．Review for Style and Usage 468

D．Proofread the Document 474